The Summer We Remembered How to Just Be

A retro roller skating shoot, a little sand, a lot of frizz, and a big reminder to stop chasing perfect.

Sunshine, skates, and soul—this shoot wasn’t about perfect poses. It was about joy, freedom, and letting go of perfection to just live.

We’ve forgotten how to just live.

Somewhere along the way, life got too fast. Too serious. Too scheduled. Everything became about hustle, productivity, money, doing more, being more. And honestly? I miss when life was simpler.

This shoot was inspired by the 70s and 80s—a time I didn’t fully grow up in but deeply crave and somehow feel in my bones and long for. The Wonder Years. Laverne & Shirley. Family Matters.....Friday nights at home watching TGIF with your family. Sitting on porches and passing time without a plan. Riding your bike until the streetlights came on. Saying "I'm bored" and actually having the space to be. We’ve forgotten what it feels like to be bored on purpose, without being rushed to perform or produce or prove something...

That was the heart behind this shoot.

I Wanted to Create a Moment That Felt Like Youth

Not the polished version of youth we see on social media—but the gritty, giggly, ice-cream-melting, frizzy-hair, belly-laughing version. The one that didn’t care what angle the camera caught you at.

When summer meant freedom. When teenagers weren’t curating a brand—they were just being kids. When front lawns, back roads, and beach boardwalks held the magic of an entire lifetime.

That’s what I wanted this session to feel like.

It Wasn’t About Looking Perfect—It Was About Feeling Free

Before we even began, I told the girls: “This isn’t about being flawless. Don’t worry about perfect hair. Don’t worry about posing. Just be.”

One of them was self-conscious about her hair being frizzy—I told her, “Good.” We were at the beach. It was humid and wild and messy. That was the point.

So we got ice cream. We let it melt. I told them to laugh with each other like nobody was watching. To look at each other—not the camera. To joke. To be awkward. To not care.

Because when you're young—when you're really alive—you’re not focused on how you look. You’re focused on how you feel.

And that’s what I wanted to capture.

Some of My Best Shots Aren’t Even Planned

They were blurry in the best way. Joy in motion. Hair flying. Ice cream dripping. Roller skates wobbling.You can’t stage moments like that—you have to live them.

Some of my favorite images I’ve ever taken weren’t even intentional.They weren’t perfectly posed, and sometimes they weren’t even perfectly in focus. But something about them—the emotion, the energy, the unfiltered realness—made them more beautiful to me than anything I could have planned.

I think that’s a reflection of life, too.

Life is messy. Life is loud. Life is stressful. But if we can stop obsessing over perfection and just live in the middle of the imperfect moments—there’s something sacred in that. Something more honest. More human. More artful than any perfectly composed aesthetic.They weren’t perfectly lit. They weren’t perfectly composed.Sometimes they weren’t even technically sharp. But they had soul.

The ones where they were mid-laugh, caught in motion, off-balance on roller skates—those were the ones that made me pause. That reminded me why I love this work.

One thing I’ve come to love about photography is the beauty in the imperfect. Some of the most meaningful images I’ve ever captured weren’t the ones I planned—they were the ones that slipped through the cracks and stole my breath anyway. They were messy and slightly blurry and unfiltered—but they were real. And that made them more artistic to me than anything I could’ve posed.

Peace, laughter, and roller skates – channeling golden-hour girlhood on the Galveston seawall.

Life Is Messy. But There’s Beauty in That, Too.

We’re constantly told to chase perfection.To look a certain way. To live up to an aesthetic. But life isn’t perfect. It’s chaotic. Unscripted.And sometimes, if you can let go of the pressure and be present in the mess—that’s when the real beauty shows up.

That’s what I wanted to give the girls in this shoot. A memory that wasn’t about looking perfect—but about feeling alive.

Sunset smiles and soul-deep sisterhood — the kind of joy you don’t outgrow.

Created for My SG Rep Team

This shoot was part of my ongoing series for my SG Rep Team, made up of some of the most fun, vibrant, creative seniors I’ve ever worked with. The girls featured in this set are:Avery Bacon, Rebekah Sapp, Presli Flowers, and Alyssa Flores.

They brought their full, real selves to this shoot—and I love them for it.

The Summer of Letting Go

I’m thinking of turning this into a full blog series.A space to share sessions, thoughts, and creative work that reflect that same spirit: less pressure, more presence.Letting go of perfect. Embracing what is. Just living again.

Would you follow along? Would that speak to you?

Let me know. Because I think a lot of us are craving something simpler, slower, and more sacred. And maybe—just maybe—that starts right here.